BENZIE COUNTY - Sept. 8: More than 70 area Spartans attended the MSU Beach Bash on Crystal Lake, raising $636 for the scholarship fund. Trustee Don and Gail Nugent were special guests. Oct. 9: Joyce Kirshner and Greg Jaris were among some 70 area Spartans and Wolverines gathered at the Frankfort Hotel for the Annual MSU-UM Football Party, with proceeds going to the Blewett Scholarship Fund.

BOSTON - Oct. 9: Many new MSU graduates were among the 25 area alumni who watched the MSU-UM game at the home of Jim and Paula Eckert, Swampscott, MA.

KALAMAZOO COUNTY - June 24: More than 300 area Spartans attended the Annual BBQ at MSU’s Kellogg Biological Station, including MSU charioteer Mike Hall and freshman tailback T.J. Duckett. Special guests included MSU First Lady Joanne McPherson and football coach Nick Saban. About $1,000 was raised to help fund scholarships, the Sparty mascot program, and the MSU Chariot program. Sept. 14: Some 80 area alumni attended the golf outing at Gull Lake View, helping raise $2,800 in scholarship money. Special guests were Bruce and Mary Fossum, and current MSU golf coach Mark Hankins.

MACOMB COUNTY - Oct. 6: MSU club president Fred Roskopp joined some 125 Spartans and Wolverines for a tailgate party at the Post Bar & Grill prior to the intrastate football game, won by the Spartans 34-31.

MUSKEGON - Aug. 18: MSU Provost Lou Anna Simon joined some 90 area Spartans, including 40 current MSU students, for a reception and scholarship presentation.

NORTHEAST OHIO - July 18: About 28 Spartans joined some 80 Big Ten alumni at a Cleveland Orchestra concert at Blossom Music Center. Aug. 8: About 29 Spartans attended a golf outing at Deer Track Golf Club, Elyria, OH, owned by Tony and Barb Dulio. $400 in scholarships was raised.

OAKLAND COUNTY - Apr. 30: More than 270 Spartans attended a fundraiser at the Main Event in the Pontiac Silverdome. Special guests included President McPherson. Oct. 4: Tom Izzo joined club president Helen and Don Dyke and Dave Himmelhoch for a fundraiser at Meadowbrook Hall, Rochester. Oct. 22: About 125 area Spartans attended a beer tasting at Bo’s Bistro, Pontiac.

OCEANA/MASON - June 6: Some 50 area alumni, including MSU trustee David Porteous, attended a reception at the Lincoln Hills CC. Aug. 13: About 60 alumni participated in the golf outing at Oceana County CC, raising $2,500 for the scholarship fund. Aug. 14: More than 500 area alumni attended a tailgate party in Pentwater, following the Pentwater Homecoming Parade. The event raised $1,500 for the club’s scholarship fund.

ROCKY MOUNTAIN - Oct. 9: About 25 area Spartans attended a dinner at the Doubletree World Arena, Colorado Springs, prior to MSU’s hockey game. Ron Mason received a framed copy of Hal Gariety’s personalized license plate, which reads 'State' in green and white. Some 105 alumni gathered at Brooklyn’s Sports Bar to watch the MSU-UM game.

SARASOTA/BRADENTON, FL - Oct. 9: Some 30 area Spartans gathered to watch the MSU-UM game at Bogie’s Sports Bar, Venice.

SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA - July 10: More than 26 area alumni gathered at Peaks of Otter Lodge, Bedford, VA, for the annual meeting. Special guest was MSUAA assistant director Dave Brown.

SPACE COAST, FL - Aug. 14: Some 43 area alumni attended a picnic at the Rotary-Suntree Park. Sep. 25: About 9 area Spartans gathered for a gaming trip to Cape Canaveral Port.

TOP OF THE STATE - Aug. 15: Some 50 area Spartans, including scholarship winners, attended a picnic organized by president Chris Wacholz. Speaker was Dave Brown, MSUAA assistant director.

WEST MICHIGAN - Aug. 17: Tom Izzo, Distinguished Alumnus and former Ambassador Peter Secchia, and Portland Trailblazer Steve Smith were among the area alumni who attended the 1st Annual Steve Smith Charity Challenge in Grand Rapids, with activities at the Frederik Meijer Gardens and a golf outing at Boulder Creek. The event raised funds for the Reading is Fundamental program in Grand Rapids Public Schools, the Steve Smith Pershing High MSU Scholarship, MSU’s Ralph Young Fund and the MSU Club of West Michigan. Also in attendence were club president Gary Mescher, Izzo, MSUAA assistant directors Dave Brown and Sandy Soifer, Steve Smith, and club board member Geoff Fields.

WISCONSIN - Aug. 9: Nearly two dozen area alumni attended the Milwaukee Brewer baseball game at the Milwaukee County Stadium, with a stadium tour conducted arranged by Tim Van Wagoner.

CONSTITUENT ASSOCIATIONS

ARTS & LETTERS - Sep. 12: Sadayoshi and Kathryn Bishop Eckert Omoto, and Kevin O’Hara, Lynn and Colleen Becker were among guests at Traverse City’s Sunday Afternoon Jazz for alumni, faculty and friends in Northwest Michigan, hosted by Dean Wendy Wilkins and alumni board members David Maters and Tim Mather. Guests enjoyed a variety of jazz performed by School of Music musicians, the wines of L. Mawby Vineyards-Suttons Bay, and an informative wine lecture by Larry Mawby, ’72.

NURSING - June: Board president A. J. Jones greeted incoming nursing students as part of their orientation session. Each incoming sophomore also received notes, calls or email messages from a member of the alumni board.

A flurry of colorful activity took place Aug. 8 on Walter Adams Field, a small meadow where the MSU Marching Band practices. The MSU Alumni Association hosted the first annual Cars on Campus Concours d’Elegance, which was sponsored by Oldsmobile to benefit two charities. With more than 150 dazzling automobiles on display, 80 classics in the main competition and the others entered in the Collectors Auto Show, the event drew hundreds of automobile lovers and alumni and raised more than $4,000 for MSU Safe Place and Highfields, Inc., of Onondaga. 'Considering this is our first year for the invitational Concours, it was a spectacular show,' says Gary Witzenburg, chairman of the organizing committee. 'We’ll be back next year with an even better one.'

1999 MSUAA AWARD WINNERS

Distinguished Alumni Award

James Cornelius, ’65, MBA ’67, chairman of the board of Guidant Corp., Indianapolis, a $2 billion cardiovascular medical device company named by Fortune as one of the '100 Best Companies To Work For In America.'

Bernard C. Easterday, DVM ’52, founding dean and professor emeritus of the School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Wisconsin, Madison, from 1966-94, and pioneering researcher in animal and bird influenza viruses.

Lynn C. Myers, ’64, MBA ’67, general manager of Pontiac-GMC Division, General Motors Corp., winner of numerous awards, including McCall’s/Ward’s Auto World’s first annual 'Outstanding Woman in the Automotive Industry' award in 1994; the MSU Distinguished Alumni Service Award in 1994; and MSU’s Oustanding Business Alumnus Award in 1989.

Peter Secchia, ’63, former U.S. Ambassador to Italy, national G.O.P. leader, and chairman and CEO of Universal Forest Products, Fortune 500 company in Grand Rapids, and winner of the 'Knight of the Great Cross' award—Italy’s highest award, and one given on rare occasions for exceptional service in international affairs.

Paul Theodore Werner, MD ’73, clinical professor of family medicine, Wayne State University, Detroit, faculty member in the MSU College of Medicine’s family practice residency program in Saginaw, vice president of clinical affairs at St. Mary’s Medical Center, Saginaw.